SACRAMENTO, CA – In light of the ongoing debate in the U.S. Senate over S. 3217, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd’s financial reform bill, U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina today outlined the principles she believes must be present in any effective financial reform measure.

“While it is abundantly clear that the need for financial reform is urgent, I do not believe Senator Dodd’s bill as currently written will achieve the fundamental goals of reform. Instituting a new bureaucracy to fill the void left by another bureaucracy that failed to watch over Wall Street and prevent excesses will just cost taxpayers more money without fixing the underlying problems in our nation’s financial systems,” said Fiorina. “In order to institute true financial reform, we must first understand why all these federal regulatory agencies failed to fulfill their responsibilities in the first place. We must also take into consideration the role Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played in our nation’s financial meltdown. Finally, we must introduce true transparency and accountability into the system – not another big-government bureaucracy.

Fiorina’s principles focus on the important role transparency, accountability and effective regulatory oversight play in preventing another financial crisis. She also believes that any reform measure must deal honestly with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a point noticeably missing in Senator Dodd’s bill. Fiorina recognizes that investment banks and commercial banks play two different roles in the marketplace, but she does not agree that reverting to outdated regulatory structures like Glass-Steagall is the answer.